There is a need for useful water vessel hull designs. Hull designs that offer more efficient hydrodynamic designs are in particular demand. Of particular need are hull designs that offer fuel cost savings and/or greater stability on water. Various designs have grown out of such need such as modified versions of the traditional single hull design, multi-hull designs such as the double hull catamaran and triple hulled trimaran. The need for faster water vessels has seen the development and deployment of hydrofoils that help lift vessel hulls out of the water thereby decreasing contact between the boat hull and the water on which the boat is traveling.
A review of prior art follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,100, issued Apr. 2, 1996 to Shaw, describes a hybrid high performance water vessel having an upper hull with a pair of main fluid-lifting-plane means also referred by Shaw as mainfoils, for providing hydrodynamic lifting force at high speed; and a torpedo shaped streamlined sub-hull disposed beneath the water line, for providing the majority of flotation. Along the water line is a knife-like slender hull called mainstrut that pierces through water surface to minimize the crucial wave-making resistance. The mainfoils are located close to one end section of the vessel, and the sub-hull is placed at the other end section of the vessel, so that the center of hydrodynamic lifting force of the mainfoils and the center of buoyancy of the water vessel is offset substantially along the longitudinal axis of the vessel system. It enables the water vessel of present invention to have a “Hull Inclination” capability that improves the performances of the water vessels.
At high speed, the Shaw vessel is said to incline in a longitudinal direction such that the sub-hull submerges into the water and the upper hull is lifted and held above the water surface. The mainfoils are described as providing rolling and substantial pitching control at high speed. When operating in a shallow or an unfamiliar water way with low speed, the vessel inclines longitudinally in an opposite direction, such that the sub-hull is raised up and close to the water surface for reducing the draught.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,848, issued Mar. 9, 1993 to Hatfield, describes a catamaran vessel with a pair of spaced apart, parallel hulls which are made of sealed watertight configuration of composite marine material and interconnected by a deck and cabin structure with depending stilts joined to the hulls. The hulls have a wave piercing configuration in which the length to beam or fineness ratio of each hull is approximately 16.3:1 with a prow that is essentially knife-edged and vertical, the vertical section contours of the forward portion of the hull are elliptical and gradually transition to an essentially rectangular contour along the rear portion. The underside of the deck between the stilts has a convex undersurface which constitutes a planing hull structure above the top of the pair of hulls and between the stilts. The depicted vessel is power driven by motor-driven propellers at the stern of each hull. The specific hull configuration is a wave-piercing hull that can be combined in multi-hull ocean going vessels, such as proas (single main hull), catamarans (two hulls) and trimarans (three hulls).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,872, issued May 9, 2000 to Latorre, describes a catamaran-type boat having two or more demi-hulls that are connected by a wing-shaped superstructure. Two or more transverse hydrofoils further connect the demi-hulls. A tunnel is created between the demi-hulls and the superstructure. The shape of the superstructure takes advantage of the airflow through the tunnel to provide aerodynamic lift. The hydrofoils serve two purposes. The first is to provide hydrodynamic lift, and the second is to cancel wave build up between the hulls. The wave cancellation assists the stability of the craft by providing a relatively flat surface for the wing, to provide stable additional lift through the “wing in ground” effect. The combination of hydrodynamic lift, wave cancellation, and aerodynamic lift decreases the ship's drag and increases its speed.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060144312, published Jul. 6, 2006 to Baker, describes a watercraft hull design that comprises a hull having a bow, stem, top, and bottom. A wedge-shaped wave spreading system is located at a forward portion of the craft. The wave-contacting surface planes of the wave spreading system are positioned substantially perpendicular to the plane of smooth water. The bottom edge of the wave spreading system is positioned near the level of smooth water when the watercraft is at cruising speed. The wave spreading system has a forward apex, which forms a substantially perpendicular or vertical leading wedge to the plane of water. Since the apex and planes of the wave spreader are substantially perpendicular to the water, oncoming waves encountered by the wave spreader will tend to be deflected horizontally. Accordingly, such watercrafts tend to “cut through” waves instead of riding over them. Located rearwardly of the wave spreader, an internal hull prow is spaced from the wave spreading system, creating an air space therebetween. The air space extends from the rearward surface of the wave spreader to the front of internal hull prow, creating a buffer zone or dampening space to further minimize any wave action not detected by the spreading system.